Hi. I also have a CHF mortgage with Noble Bank on the properties. 2 of owh ich I got a 90% mortgage. Lynn R

Hi Sanj

Nordea do have internet banking for Poland.
Huw

Hi

Can you tell me what rates of exchange Noble give for PLN to CHF or what spread they have on converting currencies , I understand that they make quite a lot of money on the spread they charge

Regards

paul

Hi Huw

Yes, thanks for that - I'm using them for my current account activities so I can transfer monies to my mortgage account online.

Regards

Sanj

Sorry to jump in and change the subject, but I need to get two properties financed. Who is recommended the most to organise a Polish mortgage? Is it Open Finance?

Many thanks,
Ant

try rednet too, they done well for me. E-mail both and see who deals with you better. It;s not quite as bad a process as some folk make out ....

Hi

I tried Rednet after 5months they said the bank turned me down , I have too many existing UK mortgages!!Things seem to have changed a bit since credit crunch I have go an agreement in principal through a broker in Krakow (piotr@polandmortgage.com )who speak english and understand the UK system and function of a broker although the mortgage costs were too high due to high exisitng liabilities. I am now trying Noble Bank recommended by PS to see if they can offer better terms.


Good Luck

Paul

Hi guys,
Back on the topic here... can anyone explain to me in more detail what the rationale for a CHF mortgage is?

I just got confirmation for my Noble (Metrobank) mortgage in CHF, through OpenFinance. Reading through the mortgage agreement, I was a bit shocked to find out that the term CHF is never mentioned throughout! The notional amount of the loan is in PLN, the payments are apparently drawn in PLN, and the loan is distributed in PLN.

So where does the CHF come in to play??? As I understand it now, this is essentially an accounting trick that allows the bank to squeeze pennies out via hidden exchange rate transactions and fluctuations.

For example, who knows if they can do this, but many companies and banks use currency fluctuations to their advantage, by taking the max/min values throughout a month-long period, rather than average or spot values.

So, what is the actual logic behind the CHF loan? If I never actually get to see any of the CHF figures or exchange rates, how do I have any idea what I am going to be charged each month? - Which as I understand is simply a fluctuating amount in PLN, based on whatever CHF rate they decide for the period.

I had a very different idea about what a CHF loan would be when I was signing up for this. I naively assumed that the loan would be established in a notional CHF amount based on the current rate at time of opening the loan, and that my payments would then be taken in a fixed CHF amount (well fixed as long as the rate stays fixed, of course). And therefore, I would be able to fully manage (and bet on) the exchange rate risk as I saw fit.

I opened CHF accounts with Citibank UK and Citibank Handlowy (in Poland), assuming this would make the process seamless for me to manage - but apparently those accounts are useless to me since I never see the CHF amount.

In fact - and this is the part I really don't get - Noble apparently insists on taking my payments from a Noble bank account that I must open with them (in PLN), and will not be able to take payments from my bank of choice (Citibank). This is quite strange - in the UK, for example, my mortgage is with Abbey, and my banking is with Citibank - and Abbey certaintly doesn't have a problem with where they take my payments from, as long as they get paid. Have I misunderstood, or is the Polish banking system so disconnected that Noble really can't take my payments from the Citibank (PLN, in Poland) account I already have?

So - do I have it all wrong, or am I missing something? Would really like to hear from anyone that has already had some experience with these CHF loans, with Noble, in particular.

Thanks!

Hi gglaze

I have some CHF loans with Noble bank.

The amounts are taken from the Noble bank acct in PLN based on the CHF interest rate (which is lower than PLN interest rate) & exchange rate between PLN & CHF (which is hopefully fairly stable), this is the concept and seems to work fine in practise.

Re your personal accts - I think you are right that it doesn't really work to have a CHF acct. Just set up a standing order from your bank account to the Noble bank acct to cover the mortgage amount (I would round this up a fair bit as the amount will be variable & if you are 3 PLN short it generates alot of paperwork/emails & potential bad credit history, so much easier to stick a bit more on the SO payment), this acct needs to be PLN but you will normally need this PLN acct anyway to receive your rent into (if there is any left once Rednet has paid all the bills particularly the service charges !! :-) )

BTW be prepared for a very long wait, getting the mortgage rate reduced, once the mortgage has been entered into the land & mortgage register, they say 6 months but I am now 18 months in on the first one, the land & mortgage register was created a few months ago but now I am waiting for the mortgage to be entered into it !!!!

Hope that helps
Antony

Thanks Antony, that makes me feel more comfortable to at least know that other people are doing this.

So the lower rate you mentioned - that is essentially when the mortgage enters the second phase with repayment mode, and the rate drops by about 1% - is that right?

So if I understand it now, the entire point of the so-called "CHF mortgage" is to simply have a PLN mortgage which uses CHF as the basis for the rate, to accomplish something like LIBOR + 3%, as opposed to LIBOR + 6% - and so the only things that change are the rate and the resulting monthly interest payments, which will be variable - is that right? assuming we are talking about interest + repayment, does that mean that the capital repayment component is also variable?

So now I'm curious about how the interest payments are determined. If I understand it, the idea is that each month the original PLN notional value of the loan is re-based into CHF at the PLN/CHF exchange rate for that month, and then the CHF interest rate is applied to that, and then the resulting CHF interest amount is converted back to PLN again using the PLN/CHF exchange rate for that month. Is that about right?

I'd be very curious to know if anyone has produced a reasonably accurate spreadsheet that can estimate your monthly payment, assuming you have up-to-date fx rates. Or if anyone could explain to me in a bit more detail how this works, so I can do it myself...

Question about the Noble account - do we have online access to at least view this account, or do we have to call in to check the balance/payment amount each month?

Thanks!